Long day care services applying for funding under the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme

Kindergarten and long day care services that meet the eligibility criteria of the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme are eligible to apply for government funding to deliver an approved kindergarten program.

The eligibility requirements for long day care services are outlined in the Information Paper 467k.

Approved kindergarten program providers can access a standard subsidy for each eligible kindy-aged child participating in their kindergarten program. All services no matter where they are located can claim the Health Care Card subsidy if a family, including foster carers, or a kindy-aged child presents their current Health Care Card or Australian Government Pension Concession card with automatic Health Care Card entitlements or formal communication such as a letter from the relevant agency stating the intent to issue a Health Care Card. The Health Care Card should be presented and a copy kept by the service. Families with multiple births of three or more kindy-aged children are also eligible for the same reduced kindy costs as Health Care Card holders. Proof of date of birth for these children is required to access the subsidy. Further information about the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme, including subsidy amounts, is available in the Kindergarten Funding Scheme section.

To provide legacy community kindergarten services previously in receipt of government funding with time to meet the eligibility criteria, the Queensland Government has provided certainty by guaranteeing these services will receive a minimum level of funding equal to their rate of funding in 2010, plus indexation until January 2014 (and recurrent at that level afterwards).

The Australian Government provides parents of children attending long day care services with subsidies to offset the out-of-pocket costs of care. These subsidies - the Child Care Benefit (CCB) and Child Care Rebate (CCR) - will be unaffected by the introduction of kindergarten programs in long day care services. Although the level of Queensland Government funding is different for long day care services and kindergarten services, the net out-of-pocket fees for parents should be comparable.

The Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme is based on the number of eligible-age children enrolled in a kindergarten program at a specific service. The previous funding model was based on a proportion of staff salaries. Also the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme provides additional subsidies for services in remote and low socio-economic areas. This establishes a more equitable distribution of funds that allows Government to ensure that children living in areas of greatest need can benefit from a quality early childhood education.

Kindergarten services can generate an estimate of the funding they will receive under the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme using the Kindergarten Funding Calculator. Please note the amounts generated are an estimate only and are not a guarantee of funding. Also, amounts generated reflect current subsidy levels and these subsidy levels are indexed annually in July.

To assist legacy community kindergarten services making the transition to the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme, the Queensland Government has committed that these services will receive no less Queensland Government funding at the point of transition to the new scheme in January 2011, than they received in 2010. As a minimum, this means that the level of funding assistance a service is eligible for in December 2010 will be maintained for the 2011 calendar year.

The payment rates are indexed annually on 1 July. The rates are indexed in line with a combination of the Queensland budget forecast wage/price index and the CPI.

Yes. If a child continues to be enrolled in the kindergarten program and the parent/family is meeting the service's prescribed fees, then the service continues to be eligible for funding for that place.

Services are required to provide information when requested about the actual hours of attendance in the program of individual children (that is, hours per day and hours per week that a child attends the program).

No. There is no change to funding arrangements due to public holidays.

A child needs to be enrolled in the kindergarten program for at least 15 hours per week, 40 weeks per year with the parent/family meeting the service's prescribed fees, for the service to be eligible for funding. Parents can choose to vary their child's pattern of attendance and provided they continue to meet their fee requirements for the kindergarten program, there would be no impact on the level of Queensland Government funding provided to the service.

Approved kindergarten program providers are encouraged to discuss strategies for maximising the child's attendance in the program and/or discuss other program options for the child, if appropriate.

Services may be required to provide information if requested, about the actual hours of attendance in the program of individual children (that is, hours per day and hours per week that a child attends the program).

Examples of what the funding can be used for include, but are not limited to, supplementation of the kindergarten teacher's salary or purchase of resources that will be used to support the delivery of the kindergarten program etc. Please refer to the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme Guidelines for Long Day Care Services 188k for further information regarding the individual subsidies.

Please Note: Services are required to apply the Health Care Card Subsidy in accordance with the specific requirements outlined in Section 8 of Guideline 2.